The Tale of Hero Alice’s Social Death

After following the little treant out of the settlement, Alice found the other party walking up to a small lake and soaking the roots growing out of his feet in the water. Seeing this, Alice quickly understood what the little treant had left the settlement to do.

Looking back now, it had already been over a week since the Rhine Kingdom had seen any rainfall. While this wasn't a problem to the Rhine Kingdom's inhabitants since dams existed in this world, it was a different story for the treants who lived primitive lifestyles.

A week without rain would cause the land to dry up to a certain extent. It was especially true for the clearing the treants used as their settlement. Without tall trees to shade the ground from the sun, the soil's moisture would evaporate much quicker. In such a situation, the treants would naturally have to seek water sources outside their settlement when they needed to replenish the fluids in their body. Meanwhile, this small lake should be where the treants replenished their fluids.

It was obvious the other treants knew about this small lake. Hence, when they saw the little treant leaving in the lake's direction, they only glanced at him before returning to their slumber. Since the little treant was only leaving to get a "drink," there was no need to worry that he might get into trouble. Although there were wild beasts in this forest, these beasts did not have any interest in the treants.

However, the treants evidently did not expect a human to cross the humans' cordon outside and sneak into their settlement.

Alice hid in a tree as she observed the little treant. However, she failed to see anything interesting as the little treant did nothing else after sitting by the lake and soaking his feet in the water. Meanwhile, after soaking in the water for about ten minutes, the little treant stood up and began treading on the path back home.

Alice knew that she couldn't wait any longer. If she allowed the little treant to return to the settlement, she would lose her opportunity to question the other party. Hence, she promptly jumped out of the tree and landed in front of the little treant. Then, she used Consciousness Transformation against him.

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Alice's Mana Concealment was still in effect, so the little treant did not notice her landing before him. As a result, she managed to take control of the little treant without facing any resistance.

The body structure of treants was different from humans. It was more similar to Andusia's current physical condition. They did not have things like internal organs or a brain. They were essentially walking blocks of wood manipulated by the souls inhabiting them.

However, spirit magic affected the soul. So, even though the treants didn't have a physical brain, they could still be affected by spirit magic. This allowed Alice to easily take control of the little treant with Consciousness Transformation, a spirit taboo. Unfortunately, all Alice could do was take control of the little treant's body. She couldn't read the little treant's memories with her current mastery over spirit magic, or lack thereof.

I really should get to learning how to read memories…

Alice scratched her head. Thus far, she had already come across three instances where she could have made her life much easier if she knew how to read memories. If she could read the little treant's memories, she might have been able to find some clues regarding the predicament the treants were currently facing.

Unfortunately, she couldn't do it right now. So, she could only employ the same method she had used against Sylvia on this little treant.

However, fearing that the little treant might have some countermeasure against Hubert's Tree, Alice chose a different method to restrain him.

When the little treant woke up, ten minutes had already passed since Alice captured him. The moment the little treant woke up, he couldn't help but be frightened by the sight before him.

Currently, rings of flames surrounded his body. Although his body wasn't in direct contact with the flames, the blazing heat they radiated immediately allowed him to understand his current situation. So long as he dared to move his body, the flames would immediately ignite him.

Due to the recent environmental changes in the forest, the treants' bodies have become a little dry. So, they had become much more flammable than normal. Knowing this, the little treant dared not move his body in the slightest.

Fortunately, treants did not need to breathe like humans. They could stay completely still if they wanted. So, the little treant didn't have to worry that he would accidentally set himself ablaze.

Afterward, the treant noticed a person in a magic robe sitting in front of him. However, he couldn't tell the other party's exact height because the other party was sitting on the ground. He couldn't tell the other party's appearance, either, since the loose magic robe concealed the other party's entire body.

Simply put, this robed person was an incredibly mysterious fellow. After observing the other party for a moment, the only information the little treant could gather was that the magic robe seemed to be of high quality.

However, although treants would normally stay cooped up and behave no differently from trees in their settlement, that didn't mean they were blockheads. Upon seeing his current predicament, the little treant immediately understood that someone had snuck into the treants' territory and kidnapped him.

When Alice saw the expression on the little treant's face, she knew that he had already understood his current situation. This would make it much easier to ask for the information she wanted.

"Hello, little treant. Don't panic. As long as you don't move, these flames won't burn you," Alice said, using mana to put pressure on her throat and make her voice sound a little hoarse. Although this wasn't enough to hide her obviously feminine voice, it was enough to mask her original voice. "I am going to ask you a few questions. So long as you can give me proper answers, I will let you go."

The little treant's expression grew a little confused when he heard Alice's question. He failed to figure out what secrets his race had that would warrant such a situation. After pondering for a moment, he asked:

"What do you want to know?"

Unlike his dry exterior, the little treant's voice was surprisingly attractive. If Alice had listened to this voice blindfolded, she might have assumed the other party was an ikemen.

"Have your people noticed any changes to your living environment recently?" Alice asked as she gestured at her surroundings. "For example, the deteriorating air quality and the ambient mana becoming contaminated."

As soon as the little treant heard Alice's question, a stern look appeared on his face. Then, he stared at Alice and made a low, questioning voice:

"Is it you?!"

Evidently, the treants had already noticed the changes that had taken place in the Kalu Forest's central region. This was good. This meant that Alice could use the excuse of "resolving the environmental changes" to negotiate with the treants. Otherwise, she would have to inform the treants of the dangers of these environmental changes herself, and doing so would come with great risks.